Prison facility in Al Awir to be ready in a year

More than 80 per cent of the new Dubai Central Prison, being built on a five-square-kilometre area in Al Awir, has been completed.

Major Tarek Kalenter, managing director of the central jail and a Police Academy staff member, says the new prison will be ready in a year.

"The new compound has been constructed in a way so it can be expanded later if it needs to be. It accommodates about 6,000 to 7,000 prisoners. The inmates in the new prison will have phones and bathrooms in their cells, as part of a new concept considered to be one of the most advanced and civilised in the Arab world," he says.

The new prison cost about Dh260 million and will consist of separate prisons for men and women, he says. It will also have special wings for juvenile delinquents of both sexes and even for people who breach labour or immigration laws.

"The buildings have been designed in a way to make it easier for the prisoners to move around. The design, in addition to the televised security systems, will help us cut down on the manpower needed in the prisons. There will be two buildings, one for the male prisoners and one for females, as well as gyms and a sports ground. We consider prison not only as a punitive establishment but also a rehabilitation institution."